January 2002 news and reviews

Pre-PMA
2002: The second camera announced by Fujifilm is the new FinePix S602
Zoom. For a while now many people on our Fuji Talk forum have complained
that they have been unable to get the 6900Z, well here's the reason. The
S602 Zoom replaces the 6900Z and then some. Just like the other cameras
announced today the S602 uses the new third generation SuperCCD. On top
of the 6900Z features is a higher resolution EVF, dual media slots (now
takes CF Type I/II as well as SmartMedia), an all new body, a new user
interface and several other new features.

Here
in the UK there has been an ongoing saga about a mistake made on Kodak's
website where the DX3700 digital camera (inc. memory card & inkjet
paper) was priced at £100. Soon after this price appeared several
hundred people ordered but were later told that they would not get the
camera at the erroneous price. After not inconsiderable pressure from
angry customers, consumer groups and the threat of legal action Kodak
(after more than a month) has agreed to honour those customers who ordered
the DX3700 at the advertised price. Full statement inside...

Pre-PMA
2002: As part of three new cameras announced today based on its third
generation SuperCCD technology Fujifilm has revealed the FinePix F601
Zoom. This camera, as the sucessor to the popular 6800Z also features
a 3.1 megapixel SuperCCD (although this time the new 'third generation')
which produces a 6 megapixel image. There are a full set of manual controls,
selectable ISO sensitivity and high speed continuous shooting at five
frames per second.

Pre-PMA
2002: Fujifilm has today announced a camera which will no doub turn
quite a few heads. The S2 Pro has a 6.17 megapixel SuperCCD III
which produces a huge 12 megapixel image (yes, twelve). The new
camera also addresses two of the major issues with the S1 Pro; it is based
on the Nikon F80/N80 body which means it's more robust, this also means
it can now shoot with AF-D, AF-G and AF-S Nikkor lenses. Other new features
include CCD-Raw files and ISO 100 support.

Sony
has today announced price cuts to its Memory Stick storage (this actually
took place last Friday). This is the second price cut in six months. This
latest reduction brings the street price of Memory Stick more into line
with other storage such as Compact Flash and SD/MMC cards. Sony are now
showing the list price for a 128 MB Stick as $89 (down an amazing $60).
Memory Sticks can already be ordered at this new price from Sony Style
and Sony Imagestation.

Kudos
to Dave Etchells for posting an excellent (technical and logical) comparison
of different brands of high capacity AA NiMH batteries. His comparison
(although done outside of a digital camera) measured precisely the amount
of power these batteries are able to store and return. "First, I
was rather surprised that the Rayovac battery / charger combination did
as well as it did. Besides their being a newcomer to the NiMH world, I'd
seen rather disappointing results from other "name brand" batteries,
namely the Energizer Accu Rechargeables."

According
to the JCIA (Japan Camera Industry Association) Digital Camera sales totalled
no less than 14.75 million units in 2001 a rise of some 42.7% over the
previous year. In more detail the local Japanese (domestic) market for
digital cameras has grown 63.8% and the export market (the rest of the
world) has grown 34.2%. This figure is in line with results published
by JCIA in August last year which were for the first half of 2001. A pretty
amazing result showing just how many digital cameras were destined for
the Christmas market.

Kodak
lost a total of $206 million in the last quarter of 2001. This is a net
loss of 71 cents per share for that period. Sales dropped 6% dragged down
by a 10% drop in film sales. "Our strategy during this difficult
economic year has been to strengthen our balance sheet so that the company
will be in a better financial position once the recovery begins,'' said
chief executive Dan Carp.

Lexar
has today announce it plans to ship its new 1 GB 16x Professional CF Type
II card by January 31. This new card which has a retail price of $1,199
has a claimed write speed of 2.4 MB per second and will be demonstrated
at the upcoming PMA (Photo Marketing Association) show in Orlando at the
end of February. Eric Stang, president and CEO says "Our new 1GB
delivers everything professional photographers want: a minimum sustained
write speed of 2.4MB per second, the highest capacity available and the
reliability of solid-state storage."

Over
on the Finepix.Com page Fujifilm are running a teaser about an upcoming
product announcement which will use an updated verison of their SuperCCD
technology, this time called SuperCCD III. The second generation SuperCCD
was used in the 6800Z and 6900Z. According to the teaser more information
will be available on 30th January. The page just after the teaser reveals
three shooting modes; "Candleshot", "Speedsnap" and
"Motionphoto". The hype build-up to PMA has begun...

Phew!
I've just posted our fully updated Olympus E-20 review. The review is
now based on a full production E-20P (firmware 29-1102). Updates include
a brand new gallery, re-shot resolution chart, colour patches, image quality,
sharpening, white balance, chromatics test etc. And a new comparison including
the Nikon Coolpix 5000. There's also a new section on the supplied software.

Canon
has today released new firmware for the G1, G2 and Pro90IS. For the G2
it is labelled version 1.0.1.0 and for the G1 / Pro90IS it is labeled
version 1.0.0.3. These firmware updates both address the same issue: "With
Firmware Version nnn, BP-511 or BP-512 Battery Packs that had become over-discharged
were sometimes not chargeable in the camera. With Version nnn, such Battery
Packs can be charged in the camera."

The
long wait is now over... It seems like an eternity since I started this
review, it was indeed before Christmas. At that time the camera I had
for review revealed a fault and we didn't receive a replacement camera
until the New Year. Since then the British weather and a host of other
commitments have done all they can to delay this review. Anyway I've worked
solidly to get it out, and here it is... Nikon's latest Coolpix prosumer
digital camera, the 5000 under our spotlight and run through our tests.
So just how well did it do?

This
is a message to the fifteen to twenty people who email me every day
asking when I will be posting my Nikon Coolpix 5000 review. I received
my latest (working) Coolpix 5000 on 2nd January, I'm currently about 50%
through the review and it should be published mid to end of next week.
There will be image quality comparisons with the Olympus E20 and Sony
DSC-F707. The only potential issue at the moment is the appalling weather
we've been having here in London for the last week. So please guys, stop
emailing me and let me get on with it :) UPDATED
18/Jan/2002: DELAYED AGAIN.

The
OM-10 was the first 35mm camera I owned, and today Olympus has announced
that there will be no more OM cameras from them. "Olympus will discontinue
the OM series of 35-mm cameras. The company will continue to manufacture
selected lenses and accessories for the OM System and they will remain
on sale with limited availability until the end of March 2003." This
is not a surprise considering the huge shift of ownership from 35mm to
digital.

CES
2002: SanDisk has today announced the latest step forward for the
MMC/SD format, a 256 MB SD card. This new card uses a 1-Gigabit NAND flash
storage chip. "The SD Card is a flash memory storage device with
built-in security functions designed to facilitate the secure exchange
of content between devices and the card. It is 32 millimeters (mm) long,
24mm wide and 2.1mm thick. More than 100 products with slots for the card
have been introduced. " It should be available "first quarter"
and will be priced at a competitive $199.

Apple
has opened a contest for iPhoto generated iTools HomePages. The competition
has three categories: People, Creative and Nature. The competition is
open until the 27th January and is available only to US residents. There
are three Nikon Coolpix 775's and three Apple iPod's up for grabs.

CES
2002: SanDisk has today announced a range of new ImageMate dual-slot
card readers, the readers will be available in three flavors - CompactFlash
& SmartMEdia, CompactFlash & Memory Stick and CompactFlash &
MMC/SD. These new readers are all USB (why no Firewire?) Mass Storage
Class devices and will have an approximate street price of US$40.

Light
& Motion has today announced its Titan waterproof housing for the
Olympus E-10 / E-20 Digital SLR's. The housing repeats all of the camera
controls on the outside of the housing as well as providing access to
the viewfinder and two large handles on either side of the unit. The Titan
housing is waterproof down to 300 ft and has a visual moisture alarm should
a fault occur. You can also attach optional dedicated lenses. The housing
alone costs $2699.

CES
2002: Panasonic has confirmed its range of 2002 Lumix digital cameras
as well as availability and pricing. In this press release they also confirm
two new models we've not previously heard of, the DMC-LC20 and DMC-LC40.
The Lumix range boasts Leica Optics in combination with Panasonic (Matsushita)
digital imaging. The line starts at $349.95 with the DMC-LC20 and goes
up to $899.95 for the four megapixel DMC-LC5.

CES
2002: Nexian, better known for their GPS add-ons for Visor PDA's has
announced a new NexiCam "sleeve" for the Compaq iPAQ Pocket
PC which adds SVGA (800 x 600) digital camera capability to the iPAQ.
"The NexiCam digital camera offers exciting new options for our iPAQ
customers, such as its video conferencing and digital video capturing
capabilities," said Roger Frizzell, Director of Global Communications
with Compaq. "With this new product, we continue to expand the exciting
capabilities iPAQ Pocket PC's." List price is $199.

CES 2002: 9 PM EST: Minolta has today announced the ultra-compact DiMAGE X digital camera. The DiMAGE X features a 2.1 megapixel CCD and an innovative new 'folded optics' 3x optical zoom lens. What's so unique about the lens is that it's mounted on its side and shoots through a prism. This enables the camera to maintain its slim dimensions but also provide a 3x optical zoom. The X comes with a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery and takes SD/MMC cards. REVIEW ONLINE.

CES
2002: As part of a press release about HP CEO Carly Fiorina's keynote
speech HP reveal their new Photosmart 812 digital camera. The 812 has
a 4 megapixel CCD, 3x Pentax optical zoom lens will have a retail price
of $599 and there's even an optional docking station which will be available
for $79. The docking station can be directly connected to USB HP printers
for "print direct".

CES
2002: An interesting article out of CES today from the Compact Flash
Assocation has confirmed that the irradiation process the U.S. Postal
Service is using to sanitize mail against anthrax can not only destroy
the data on flash storage (and other semiconductors) but can leave them
unusable. "Testing has confirmed that these systems, which operate
in the range of 55 kGy, damage not only semiconductors, but other goods
as well, including pharmaceuticals, contact lenses, biological samples,
and photographic film,'' the group said.

CES
2002: 9 PM EST: Minolta has today announced an updated version of
the DiMAGE S304. The S404 has a 4 megapixel CCD, 4x optical zoom lens
and shifted ISO sensitivity range (ISO 64, 100, 200, 400). We've had a
prototype S404 for two days now, however as Minolta don't want us to post
samples from this camera we won't be reviewing this model until a production
unit is available.

(Pun).
CES 2002: Lexar has today announced a new Portable USB card reader
for MMC/SD cards. Not to be outdone by SanDisk and just a day after they
announced their Cruze product the new Lexar portable USB MMC/SD card reader
is also a 'Mass Storage Class' device (which means it will work with most
modern operating systems without a driver). The reader alone will cost
$29.99. It's worth noting that unlike the SanDisk unit (which is self
contained) the Lexar reader does have a cable.

CES
2002: Apple has today announced iPhoto, a new application for its
OS X operating system which is designed to make it easier to download,
organize, categorize, share and print your digital camera images. iPhoto
supports a wide range of digital cameras and can automatically download
images from the camera into a 'roll'. The best thing about iPhoto is the
extremely simple "Import / Organize / Edit / Book / Share" sequence,
this makes it easy for the complete novice to connect their camera and
orgnize their photos just as they would if they had hard prints in front
of them (only better).

CES
2002: SanDisk has today announced "Cruzer", a USB compatible
device which is compatible with SD / MMC storage cards. It's essentially
a USB "jacket" for these storage cards. Thanks to the "mass
storage class" USB device standard the Cruzer can be plugged into
any modern operating system without the requirement for drivers. A 128
MB Cruzer will cost you $99.99. (Phil: sounds like a pocket sized SD /
MMC card reader to me...)

CES
2002: Sony has today announced two new Mavica "Dual-Media"
digital cameras. The 1.2 megapixel FD100 and 2.1 megapixel FD200 can take
either 3.5" Floppy disks (yes, still) or Memory Stick flash media.
Both cameras have a 3x optical zoom lens and InfoLithium batteries and
USB connectivity. The FD100 has an expected retail price of $400, the
FD200 a price of $500.

Thanks
to one of our regular readers for noting that Pantellic President (owners
of Photopoint) Dale Gass has spoken to CNET by email he writes "While
Pantellic has ceased operations, we are actively working on a solution
for people to get copies of their photos," Pantellic President Dale
Gass wrote in an e-mail. "There will be an announcement at www.photopoint.com,
and members will be notified via e-mail when this is available."
According to Gass, Pantellic has been unable to communicate with its customers
since a "substantial amount" of its networking equipment was
seized on the day the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company ceased operations.

Uwe
Steinmueller of Digital Outback Photo has just let me know that he's posted
a review of Canon's EOS-1D digital SLR and the new EF 400mm f/4 DO IS
lens. Of the EOS-1D Uwe says, "Even if the EOS-1D might have low
noise compared to other cameras at ISO 400 and above we will try to stay
with ISO 200 as often as possible. ISO 400 (and higher even more so) look
clearly more grainy than ISO 200 photos (if seen at 100% pixel level)."

Olympus
has today said that it is looking to bring its digital camera operations
into the black after a tough time last year. Olympus are looking to shift
a large amount of its domestic digital camera production to China. "Our
biggest problem this business year was inventories,'' Yusuke Kojima, senior
manager for sales and marketing in Olympus's imaging systems group, told
a news conference. "Digital cameras have been hit by intensely competitive
conditions.'' Like personal computers, he said, digital cameras now have
a very short shelf-life because of the rapid emergence of new models.